The Pen and Inkpot

I read this book quite a while ago but I thought that you might like to know my thoughts on it.  The Fifth Wave is a dystopian novel about the earth being taken over in five different waves that supposedly intended to wipe out the human race. The main character is a girl named Cassie whose family gets torn apart by the waves of sickness and destruction. It is a very gripping novel and had me hanging on to every word. It is set in a world where no one can be trusted and you can be alive one minute and dead the next. This makes the relationships Cassie once had, very dangerous to form again in that crumbling world. I would consider this novel a sci-fi, action, dystopian, romance book with many changes of point of view which creates an extra dimension in the story. For any Hunger Games and Divergent fans out there who haven’t already read it, The Fifth Wave is definitely a book you should read. This dystopian novel is a good kind of cliche. Teens: this one’s for you. 

I have rekindled my love for classics after reading the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. It surprised me and turned out to be better than I had originally suspected. Filled with action and old words I have grown to love, the storyline of the Hobbit is extremely intricate and entertaining. Bilbo Baggins, an ordinary Hobbit is paid a mysterious visit by the infamous wizard Gandalf and his band of dwarves who invite him on their treacherous treasure hunt. Bilbo is their secret ingredient: the burglar, whose job is to steal the gold from the old dragon, Smaug who lives beneath the Lonely Mountain. This adventure turns out a little more strange, dangerous and exciting than Bilbo had anticipated and when his friends are in trouble and he yearns for his warm armchair at home, he needs to be brave and faithful enough to use his secret weapon for good, not bad. I think that the Hobbit is appropriate for ages 10+ since it contains no romance or swearing, but there is some violence involvi

I apologise for my absence from uploading blog posts for the past few months, but it is partially due to a family holiday spent in Europe. Spread throughout this post and several other future posts, I’m going to share with you my amazing experience and recommendations from all over the continent in the cities of London, Dublin, Paris and Rome. Firstly, in London, there were so many famous landmarks and buildings to see, we didn’t run out of things to do until the end of the week. Highlights included Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the British Museum. I found Westminster Abbey absolutely incredible. We bought audio guides and got tickets to see inside the Abbey, it was definitely worth it. The building is very old and the architecture is amazing. On the walls and even under the floor are the burial places for the most famous people of British and European history. The sculptures and decorations covering the coffins and tombs are very detailed and there were endless

Hollow City is the second book in the trilogy "Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children". In my opinion, this book is even better than the first book, "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" because it was more of a mysterious book with Jacob uncovering his peculiarity more and more. I would also love to read it again because it was the kind of book with so many hidden clues leading to a surprising twist. Before reading on, keep in mind that it may contain spoilers about the ending of the first book which I would recommend reading first. To read my review on it click on the link: http://thepenandinkpot.blogspot.com.au/2016_09_10_archive.html  or click the 10th September 2016 in the blog archive.   It begins right off the end of "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" where a group of children with peculiar talents are in a boat, escaping the wights, evil people who are trying  to hunt them down and desperately trying to find help fo

I was lucky to receive a "Build your own Terrarium" kit as a gift and I was very excited to make it. It was great fun and is a great way to bring the outside in. It was really easy and if you have the right materials, you probably don't need a kit like mine. The materials that were in the kit were: - A clear glass bowl - Small stones - Small white pebbles - Small black pebbles - Mini Shovel and rake - Spray bottle - Tweezers Other things you'll need: - Cactus Soil - Cacti or succulent of your choice Start by placing the stones in the bottom of the bowl. Then add soil so that the bowl is a little over a half way full. Plant your cactus plants into the soil making sure they aren't too close together and won't grow too tall for the container. TIP: Use gloves for this! Cacti are very prickly and their spikes can HURT! Sprinkle the black and white pebbles over the soil in whatever way you like. I put a layer of black pebbles on f

After reading The Potion Diaries , I felt I really needed to share this book with you. It was equal parts breathtaking and gripping with a spoonful of humour. With traces of romance and full of adventure, this books makes the perfect read. Full of magic and fantasy, it has a very action packed storyline and some surprising twists that keeps the reader sucked in all the way.  Samantha Kemi lives in a world filled with magic. People are born with skills that are powerful and mysterious- they are called the Talenteds. There is one problem for Sam though, she is ordinary. Her Dad and Grandfather are ordinary and it was her sister who got the Talent in the family. So while her parents put the little money they have towards getting her talented sister the best education, Samantha is stuck in the family shop. She inherited the Kemi skill of alchemy, so she becomes her Grandfather's apprentice. But the future is unclear because the art of Potion making is no longer appreciated. ZA c

I stocked up on books from the library to read over the holidays and one of the books I picked up was  A Monster Calls  by Patrick Ness. I must say that this dark and mysterious book wouldn't have been the type I would usually go for, but I was intrigued by the dramatic pictures that crept through the pages of the book. I enjoyed it too, not in the way you would normally enjoy a book, but in the way that makes you read more and more, and when you're not reading it, you're thinking about it. Also, it's one of those books that, once it ends, it takes a moment of pondering when you stare blankly into space and give several satisfied sighs. Yeah- it's one of those books. It begins with a character called Conor. His life is pretty hard to say the least. His mum's cancer is getting worse and one horrific nightmare haunts his sleep. Then, the monster calls. Conor's mum always said it was a yew tree, but this yew tree turns into a monster who is taller than th

Finally this book arrived. Getting stuck into Harry Potter and the Cusred Child was no hard task and I flew through the pages of it in one day. It wasn't just any book though, the story is actually a play that was being performed in England so the book was written as a script, a form of text I haven't really read much. Since the book was written as a script, the layout allowed a lot more imagination so that I could match the scenes in the script to the scenes described by JK Rowling in her earlier books. Also, the fact that it was written as a script didn't make a difference in the way I read the book. It actually  made it an easier read and made it easier to imagine the characters the way you wanted. Another thing that was different was that scenes moved a lot quicker as a script.    The story begins with Harry and Ginny's second son, Albus going onto the Hogwarts Express for his first year at Hogwarts. Albus' older brother James tries to scare Albus with lies

Easter is approaching fast and this year I have another Easter craft to share with you. The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday. In church we focus on the time before Jesus' death when he enters Jerusalem. He rides humbly on the back of a donkey and is greeted by people laying their coats down for him to walk across and praising him waving palm fronds. Traditionally at my church, on Palm Sunday a small cross made out of a palm leaf is handed out. I have always been curious as to how a flimsy leaf can be fashioned into the form of a crucifix and finally, I have learnt how to do it and I am eager to share it with you. All you will need are two palm leaves that are roughly the same length (less than 30cm long). If you don't have any palm trees to steal leaves off, you can use some nice paper and cut two lengths that are the same width and length. You might also need scissors to trim your cross at the end (more on that later). Step 1 Make sure that your two strips ar

In preparation for watching the new movie of "Beauty and the Beast"  I decided to read a fractured fairytale based on that story.  Beastly  is the tale of Beauty and Beast from the Beasts point of view and is set in the present time. But apart from the character of the beast and the significance of the rose, most of the story was different to the original which made it quite an interesting read. Kyle Kingsbury is a normal kid. He goes to a posh school,is a selfish brat, hot and popular and the king of the school. One night, everything changes. A witch turns him into the beast he really is on the inside. Kyle has 2 years to break his curse before it becomes permanent, but it's breaking the curse that's the hard part. The classic fairytale's true love kiss is the only thing to break it. Can Kyle get someone to love him the way he really is, or can he learn from his mistakes and finally become the person he is supposed to be? Beastly  is a story of love

Another year has gone by and we welcome the new year. We are all a little older and a little wiser. It doesn't seem at all very long ago that I began writing on this blog as the Inkpot Blogger. It was at this time last year that the Pen And Inkpot blog was born. I wrote my first post: Welcome to the Pen and Inkpot, and crossed my fingers. But I'm not hoping for success and popularity, I am hoping to inspire people and encourage people to do what they love. I write about what I love, books, movies, food, craft and God. Although I don't always get around to posting every week and sometimes I forget about it altogether, I enjoy writing, photographing and posting when I can.    Okay, okay, I don't get thousands of views and endless comments on my blog, but that doesn't mean I'm not grateful for the views I do get. If you are reading this now, I want to say thank you! I want to really thank those of you who have been with me for a while. I really love seeing peop

  Not very long ago, I found myself in search of a good book to read so I went to the library and picked up a few to last me for a while. One of the books I borrowed was called If You Were Me amd it didn't really last me for very long at all. It is a gripping book filled with mystery and uncertainty with deeper meaning such as, equality, stereotypes and loyalty. If you Were Me will have you hanging on the edge of your seat until the very end.   The story swaps between two points of view. The first being of a girl named Aliya. She lives in Afghanistan with her Mother and siblings, managing the family whlie dealing with the loss of her father to terrorists. When her brother, Behrouz, is wanted dead by a terrorist group, they must escape to a different country. This new country is England.  The second point of view comes from a boy named Dan. Comparing him to Aliya is like chalk and cheese. He lives in England with his parents. He helps his dad with his plumbing business and